Method for Presenting Interactive Information about a Telecommunication User

ABSTRACT

A method and system for presenting interactive information about a party in a telecommunication call are provided. The party may be a calling party or a called party. Providing interactive information may include identifying a party in a telecommunication call and receiving interactive information about the party. The received interactive information may be combined with user data to form combined interactive information. The combined interactive information may be displayed to a user. A user-action relating to the displayed combined interactive information may be received and an operation corresponding to the user-action may be performed. Providing interactive information may include determining if the user data is needed by analyzing the interactive information. The interactive information may include events, and the user data may include the user&#39;s schedule. The combining may correlate the events with the schedule and creates a set of user-actions based on the correlation.

BACKGROUND ABOUT A TELECOMMUNICATION USER

1. Field of the Invention

The principles of the present invention relate generally to an improvedtelecommunication system, and in particular, to an improved method ofusing a communication device. Still more particularly, the principles ofthe present invention relate to a method, apparatus, and computer usableprogram product for presenting interactive information about atelecommunication user on the communication device.

2. Description of the Related Art

Telecommunication involves two or more communication devicescommunicating with each other using a communication network For example,two telephones may be able to communicate with each other using atelecommunication network called public switched telephone network(PSTN). PSTN is primarily a voice telecommunication network for enablingtelephone-based telecommunications between two or more parties.

Data processing systems are often connected with other devices and dataprocessing systems using a data network The data network provides thenetworked data processing systems and devices with a communicationsmedium over which data may be exchanged with each other.

Many types of wired and wireless networks are available for networkingdata processing systems, as well as communication devices. Wirednetworks utilize physical wires that can carry electrical data signalsfor connecting data processing systems and communication devices tocommunicate over the network. Wireless networks generally utilize radiowaves for connecting the data processing systems and communicationdevices to the network in a wireless manner.

A communication device is a device from which a telecommunication callmay be placed or received. The term “communication devices” refers tothe collection of all devices used for telecommunication. For example, acommunication device can be the familiar telephone, a computer with atelecommunication enabling software application (generally known as asoftphone), a telephone-like device that works over data networksinstead of a plain old telephone system (POTS) line, a wireless orcellular phone, or any other device used for telecommunication. Acommunication device is any one of these communication devices.Communication devices may also include devices and applications capableof communicating in other ways, for example, by text messaging, instantmessaging including text, audio, video, images, and documents.

Various communication devices are capable of communicating with eachother using a variety of networks. Some communication devices are ableto communicate using analog signals over telecommunication networks,which are generally analog communication networks. Other communicationdevices, such as a voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) enabledtelephone, communicate over data networks. VOIP is a telecommunicationmethod for transmitting voice communications over a data network, suchas the Internet. Common VOIP implementations are in telephony wheretelephone conversations are partly or entirely carried over the Internetfrom a caller telephone to a called telephone. A VOIP call is a voicecall connected using VOIP technology.

Certain presently available communication devices include telephony aswell as data capabilities. These communication devices may conducttelephony using telecommunication network, data network, or both. Forexample, a phone may have access to only a telecommunication network onwhich the phone places and receives telecommunication calls. The phone,however, may also be able to make a data call by including a modem andusing a dial-up service to connect to a data network, such as theInternet. As another example, a phone may have access to bothtelecommunication and data networks. The phone may use atelecommunication network for making a traditional analog call and thedata network for making a VOIP call.

A calling party, calling user, or a caller, is a person or entityplacing a telecommunication call. A called party, or a called user, is aperson or entity receiving a telecommunication call. A callingcommunication device is a communication device used for placing atelecommunication call. A called communication device is a communicationdevice used for receiving a telecommunication call. A calling phonenumber, or a caller phone number, is a number associated with thecalling communication device. A called phone number is a numberassociated with a called communication device. A calling party name, ora caller name, is the name of the calling party. A called party name isthe name of the called party.

Caller identification (Caller ID) is a feature commonly known to thetelecommunication industry and to the users of telecommunicationservices. When a call is received on a communication device equippedwith a display screen, such as on a modern day wireline or wirelessphone, generally, a calling phone number with or without a nameassociated with the calling phone number is displayed on thecommunication device's display screen. Calling phone number with orwithout an associated name is called “caller ID.”

Caller ID is also known as calling line identification (CLI) whenprovided via an ISDN connection to a private automatic branch exchange(PABX). In some countries, the terms caller display, call display,calling line identification presentation (CLIP), call capture, or justcalling line identity (CLID) are also used to describe the caller IDfeature.

Modifications to the caller ID include using an address in place of thename, such as for 911 purposes. However, caller ID is insufficient forinformation exchange, such as for messaging between users. Furthermore,a user cannot do much more with the caller ID information than receivethe caller ID information as conventional caller ID is not of a naturethat a user may interact with the displayed caller ID information.

SUMMARY

In order to provide interactive information including actions inaddition to the caller ID information, the illustrative embodimentsprovide a method and system for presenting interactive information abouta telecommunication user on a communication device. Providinginteractive information on a communication device according to theillustrative embodiments may include identifying a party in atelecommunication call and receiving interactive information about theparty. The received interactive information may be combined with userdata to form combined interactive information. The combined interactiveinformation may be displayed to a user. A user-action relating to thedisplayed combined interactive information may be received and anoperation corresponding to the user-action may be performed.

Performing the operation may include composing a command based on theuser-action and sending the command over a network for execution.Receiving the interactive information may be responsive to sending arequest the interactive information, and the request may include anidentity of the party as well as an identity of the user.

Providing interactive information on a communication device according tothe illustrative embodiments may also include receiving the user datafrom one or more of a storage in the communication device and a dataprocessing system accessible to the communication device. When the userdata is received from a data processing system the additionalinformation and the interactive information may be received from dataprocessing systems that may be distinct from one another. Furthermore,providing interactive information may include determining if the userdata is needed by analyzing the interactive information. The interactiveinformation may include events, and the user data may include the user'sschedule. The combining correlates the events with the schedule andcreates a set of user-actions based on the correlation. Displaying thecombined interactive information may include suggesting a set ofuser-actions to the user, and each user-action in the set ofuser-actions may correspond to at least one interactive action includedin the combined interactive information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features believed characteristic of the illustrativeembodiments are set forth in the appended claims. The illustrativeembodiments, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, will best beunderstood by reference to the following detailed description of anillustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of an exemplary telecommunicationenvironment in which the illustrative embodiments may be implemented;

FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary display of interactive information inaccordance with an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 2A depicts a second exemplary display of interactive information inaccordance with an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 2B depicts an alternative exemplary second display of interactiveinformation in accordance with an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary display of interactive information inaccordance with an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 3A depicts a second exemplary display of interactive information inaccordance with an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 4 depicts a second exemplary telecommunication environment inaccordance with an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary display of interactive information on awireless communication device in accordance with an illustrativeembodiment;

FIG. 6 depicts an alternative exemplary telecommunication environment inaccordance with an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 7 depicts a display of exemplary interactive information inaccordance with an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 8 depicts a block diagram of an exemplary interactive informationapplication in accordance with an illustrative embodiment; and

FIG. 9 depicts a flowchart of an exemplary process of presentinginteractive information in accordance with an illustrative embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Users of telecommunication services find caller ID useful because of theinformation provided prior to accepting a call made to theircommunication devices. Giller ID identifies the calling user byproviding a calling number and generally a name of a calling user to thecalled user.

Illustrative embodiments recognize that presently available caller IDinformation is limited in content and scope. For example, conventionalcaller ID is typically limited to informing a called user about thecalling number and sometimes a name associated therewith. However,often, a called user may not be able to recognize the calling number orname and may be at a loss whether to accept the call. Furthermore, auser can employ presently available methods that hide the callingnumber, alter the calling number, hide the name, alter the name, orpretend to be a calling number and name different from the actualcalling number and name. When a calling user employs such methods, thecalled user is at a further loss for information the user may need todecide whether or not to accept the call.

The illustrative embodiments provided herein also recognize that whencaller ID is available, a called user may desire more information aboutthe caller, caller's organization, subject of the anticipatedconversation, and any other information that may be beneficial to thecalled user in making a decision whether to accept a call. Furthermore,the user may wish to take actions, such as select, drill down or up,receive more details, or transfer using certain parts of such additionalinformation. Phone systems presently exist that include an interactivevoice response (IVR) system for delivering audio menu and information toa user. A commonly used IVR system prompts a user to press certain keyson the user's telephone to make selections from the menu.

However, when a user interacts with an IVR system, the IVR systemcontrols, sequences and times the user's actions. For example, a usergenerally has to wait until the voice announcement of all the menuoptions is complete before the user can make a selection. In such cases,the user does not have sufficient information or is not allowed tointeract with the IVR system until the announcement is complete. Anecessary drawback of a voice driven system, such as an IVR system, isthat the information delivery is slow and sequential. As the number ofoptions or the possible user actions grows, the longer the user has towait to interact with the system.

Thus, a method, apparatus, and computer program product for visuallypresenting interactive information about a telecommunication user may beuseful. Interactive information is information relating to onetelecommunication user that another telecommunication user on atelecommunication call can receive, display, perform action using thedisplay, manipulate, modify, and integrate with other information. Sucha method, apparatus and computer program product are provided in theillustrative embodiments below, and may provide enhanced, additional,supplemental, or related information interactively about a calleridentified by a caller ID, as well as about a called party.

With reference to FIG. 1, this figure depicts a block diagram of atelecommunication environment in which the illustrative embodiments maybe implemented. Environment 100 includes phone 102 capable oftelecommunicating with phone system 104 using network 106. A phonesystem is a communication device that is capable of delivering automatedinformation before, during, or after a telecommunication call. Forexample, a PABX system is an example of a phone system and may be usedas phone system 104. Phone 102 may be equipped with an electronicdisplay 107, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen, and todisplay information thereon. Display 107 of phone 102 may also be ableto receive input from the user, such as via a touch screen if theelectronic display 107 is a touch screen, via buttons located elsewhereon phone 102, or via a data processing system in communication withphone 102. In one embodiment, selection of keys on keypad 109 may causeinteraction with the information on the electronic display 107.

Phone 102 and phone system 104 are examples of communication devices.Network 106 may include a data network, such as a local area network(LAN), a wide area network (WAN), for example, the Internet. Network 106may also include a telecommunication network, such as PSTN.

Backend system 108 may be a data processing system that may interactwith phone system 104. For example, backend system 108 may provide andrevise IVR menus, and provide additional information, such as on-holdmusic for users connecting with phone system 104.

Server 110 may be a data processing system accessible via network 106.User of phone 102 may receive the interactive information about a userof phone system 104 from server 110. For example, phone 102 may receivea call, identify a caller with a caller ID, send a request forinteractive information about the caller identified in the caller ID,receive the interactive information, and visually display theinteractive information, such as on electronic display 107 of phone 102.Request for the interactive information may include an identity of theuser of phone system 104, and may also include the identity of the userof phone 102.

User of phone system 104, such as a business establishment, may providethe interactive information stored on server 110. For example, backendsystem 108 may provide the interactive information to server 110.Persons and entities other than the user of phone system 102 may alsoauthor or edit the interactive information about the user of phonesystem 104 in server 110, such as by providing feedback about thebusiness establishment using phone system 104.

With reference to FIG. 2, this figure depicts a display of interactiveinformation in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. Display 200may be a display screen on a communication device, such as electronicdisplay 107 of phone 102 in FIG. 1. Once the communication deviceincluding display 200 receives interactive information, such as in themanner described with respect to phone 102 in FIG. 1, that informationis displayed on display 200.

The interactive information may or may not be combined with the callerID information for display on display 200. In one embodiment, caller IDinformation may be replaced by the interactive information received fromthe server. In another embodiment, the caller ID information may bemodified and displayed in addition to the interactive information. Inanother embodiment, the caller ID information may be displayed as it wasoriginally received, in conjunction with the interactive information.

In FIG. 2, display 200 is shown to include caller ID information 202,which includes a calling number and a name associated with that callingnumber. Display 200 may include some visual cues that the informationbeing displayed has been grouped in some logical manner. For example,graphical dividers, dividing lines, blank space, color, type or size offonts, and other similar techniques may be used for grouping informationdisplayed on display 200. Dividing line 204 is an example of techniquesthat may be used for such grouping.

Interactive information 206 may include any number of actions a user maytake with respect to the displayed interactive information. For example,interactive information 206 is shown to include main menu 208. Main menu208 may be a visual representation of a menu delivered via IVR system,or any other information with which a user may interact. FIG. 2 depictsa visual version of a familiar IVR voice menu. The user viewinginteractive information 206 may select an option from options 210displayed in the interactive information. Selecting an option, such aspressing 1 on the phone keypad to connect to the sales department, is anaction that the user is able to take using interactive information 206.Such an action is a user-action. Connecting to the sales department byreceiving the data associated with pressing 1 on the phone keypad is anoperation that is included in interactive information 206.

In some instances, an operation may trigger an interactive action. Aninteractive action is an action that the application displaying theinteractive information may take with respect to a user-action. Forexample, upon a user-action of pressing the “1” key, may cause theapplication to construct a command for another data processing system toperform a task. The application referenced here is described in thedescription of FIG. 8 below.

Interactive information 206 may further include several sets ofinteractive information simultaneously. In contrast, present IVR systemsare limited to delivering one set of voice based interactions at a time.A set of interactive information is one or more interactions groupedtogether in some rational way. For example, main menu 208 is a set ofinteractive information, which groups the call transfer options withwhich a user may interact in the example of FIG. 2. Shopping menu 212 isanother set of interactive information that groups shopping options thata user can interact with in the same example. Main menu 208 and shoppingmenu 212 are displayed together in this exemplary display, enabling theuser to control the sequence and timing of the user-action.

Furthermore, interactive information 206 as received from a server, suchas server 110 in FIG. 1, may not include specific keys to specificoptions. An application according to the illustrative embodiments thatdisplays interactive information 206 on display 200 may compose theinteractive information layout and assign keys or buttons to specificoptions present in interactive information 206. FIG. 7 and thedescription of FIG. 7 below describe the application.

Additionally, the interactive information as received from the servermay include indicators with each piece of interactive information thatindicates a status of that piece of interactive information. Forexample, shopping menu 212 includes option 214 that may pertain tointeractive information for purchasing a specific item on sale. However,the interactive information about option 214 may include an indicatorthat the item is sold out. Option 214 may therefore appear as grayed outon display 200, and a user-action of pressing key 7 may not result in asale of that item.

The sets of interactive information, their layout and key assignments,and the indicators associated with specific interactive information areonly exemplarily used for the clarity of the description and are notlimiting on the illustrative embodiments. Other sets of interactiveinformation, their layouts and other indicators associated with specificinteractive information are conceivable from this disclosure and withinthe scope of the illustrative embodiments. For example, scroll bars maybe provided to enable a user to scroll up and down to view informationthat cannot completely fit on the electronic display.

With reference to FIG. 2A, this figure depicts a second display ofinteractive information in accordance with an illustrative embodiment.Display 200, caller ID information 202, and dividing line 204 in thisfigure are the same as in FIG. 2.

Display 200 in FIG. 2A further includes interactive information 232,which results from a user-action of the user and interactive actionexecuted in the interactive information 206 corresponding to theuser-action in FIG. 2. Particularly, interactive information 232 mayresult from the user pressing the number 1 key on the phone thatcorresponds to option “Sales” in main menu 208 in FIG. 2. Interactiveinformation 232 may include a second level menu, such as a directory ofsales personnel at the organization identified in caller ID 202.Interactive information 232 may provide options 234 in a manner similarto options 210 in FIG. 2, and allow the user to take additionaluser-actions. In FIG. 2A, the second level menu is shown to include anoption to return to the main menu, as well as other call forwardingoptions.

Interactive information 232 may or may not display additional sets ofinteractive information. For example, in display 200 in FIG. 2A, becausethe user has selected an option from main menu 208 in FIG. 2 instead ofan option from shopping menu 212 in FIG. 2, interactive information 232may not display a shopping menu again but may display information 236pertaining to the sale. Information 236 may also be interactive. Forexample, the user may be able to click on information 236, such as bytapping on a touch screen, to cause shopping menu 212 in FIG. 2 to bedisplayed again.

Interactive information 232 may also include other information relatingto previous user-actions, messages relating to the entity identified inthe caller ID, or other information such as time, weather, or newsheadlines. In the exemplary display of FIG. 2A, interactive information232 is shown to include advertisement 238, which, again, may or may notbe interactive as described above.

With reference to FIG. 2B, this figure depicts an alternative seconddisplay of interactive information in accordance with an illustrativeembodiment. Display 200, caller ID information 202, and dividing line204 in this figure are the same as in FIGS. 2 and 2A.

Display 200 in FIG. 2B further includes interactive information 252,which results from a user-action of the user, and an interactive actionexecuted in the interactive information 206 corresponding to theuser-action, in FIG. 2. Particularly, interactive information 252 mayresult from the user pressing the number 5 key on the phone thatcorresponds to option “1 GB DIMM $20.00” in shopping menu 212 in FIG. 2.

Interactive information 252 may include a second level shopping options,such as a list of other items on sale, catalog of items, or back toprevious menu, in options 254. Options 254 may also provide interactiveinformation about other items related to the previous user-action, ormay be fixed. When related to the previous user-action, options 254 mayprovide options that may be the logical next steps in a workflow, suchas an option to checkout after a user-action of selecting an item.Interactive information 252 may provide options 254 in a manner similarto options 210 in FIG. 2, and may also allow the user to take additionaluser-actions.

Interactive information 252 may or may not display additional sets ofinteractive information. For example, in display 200 in FIG. 2B, becausethe user has selected an option from shopping menu 212 in FIG. 2 insteadof an option from main menu 208 in FIG. 2, interactive information 252may not display a main menu again, but may display information 256pertaining to the sale. In FIG. 2B, information 256 displays the user'sbilling address that may be in a database of the seller of the itemselected. Furthermore, information 256 may also be interactive. Forexample, the user may be able to click on information 256, the user'sbilling address, to cause a list of user's previously used addresses tobe displayed so that the user may select a different address.

Shared housing, cohabitation, and group housing situations may findanother application of the illustrative embodiments. For example,several individuals in a college dormitory room may share a common phoneline. Consequently, the caller ID reflects either the name of one ofthose several individuals regardless of the person making/receiving thecall, or no name at all but just the phone number. Using theillustrative embodiments, particularly the embodiment described in FIGS.3 and 3A, a user may be able to receive interactive informationpertaining to the intended individual in the group.

With reference to FIG. 3, this figure depicts a display of interactiveinformation in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. Display 300is similar to display 200 in FIGS. 2, 2A, and 2B. Caller ID information302 in FIG. 3 is exemplarily shown to include only the telephone number,as is the case with some caller IDs, but may also be similar to callerID 202 in FIGS. 2, 2A, and 2B. Display 300 does not show any dividingline between groups of interactive information, but the interactiveinformation layout uses spacing to separate the groups of interactiveinformation. Display 300 further includes interactive information 304.

Interactive information 304 may present options 306, each optionallowing the user a user-action to receive interactive informationpertaining to the individual identified in that option. For example, theuser may be able to press the number 1 key on the user's phone andreceive information pertaining to “John Doe”, press number 2 key andreceive information pertaining to “John Roe”, or press 4 for “generalmailbox” and get general information, if any, related to the group as awhole.

With reference to FIG. 3A, this figure depicts a second display ofinteractive information in accordance with an illustrative embodiment.Display 300 is the same as display 300 in FIG. 3. The informationdisplayed on display 300 results from a user-action with respect tointeractive information 304 in FIG. 3. Particularly, the informationdepicted in FIG. 3A results from the user pressing the number 1 key onthe user's keypad to select “John Doe” as the party about whom the userwishes to receive the interactive information.

Caller ID 322, is shown to now exemplarily include John Doe's nametogether with the number previously displayed as caller ID 302 in FIG.3. A particular implementation may omit revising the caller ID in thismanner. Picture 324 may also be optionally displayed. A particularimplementation may substitute a graphic, icon, image, logo, or any othersimilarly displayable data for picture 324. Display 300 further includesdividing lines 326 as described with respect to FIG. 2.

Interactive information 328 may include detailed interactive informationpertaining to the party selected in the user-action. For example,interactive information 328 may include messages from the party aboutitems the party has for sale, organizations the party is affiliatedwith, personal description of the party, and the location of the party.Of course, any information provided by the party, third persons orentities, or both, may be similarly displayed in interactive information328. Furthermore, some or all of this information may be interactive.For example, a user may be able to click on a name of an organizationthe party is affiliated with, such as the school the student attends,and receive more information about that organization.

Interactive information 328 may or may not display additional sets ofinteractive information. For example, interactive information 328 mayalso include the interactive information 304 in FIG. 3 as a second setof interactive information displayed simultaneously with interactiveinformation 328 in display 300 in FIG. 3A. As another example,interactive information 328 may display a set of interactive informationabout the university the selected party attends, such as a football gameschedule for the university's football team. Many other types ofinteractive information will be conceivable from this disclosure fordisplaying simultaneously with interactive information 328.

The sets of interactive information, their layout and key assignments,the indicators associated with specific interactive information,progression from one menu to another, user-actions, interactive actions,and other features of FIGS. 2, 2A, 2B, 3, and 3A are only exemplarilyused for the clarity of the description and are not limiting on theillustrative embodiments. Other features displayable in the mannerdescribed above are conceivable from this disclosure and within thescope of the illustrative embodiments.

With reference to FIG. 4, this figure depicts a second telecommunicationenvironment in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. Phone 402 maybe similar to phone 102 in FIG. 1. Server 404 may be similar to server110 in FIG. 1. Network 406 may be similar to network 106 in FIG. 1.

Telecommunication environment 400 may be used when a user of phone 402calls a user of device 408, which may be a wireless communicationdevice, such as a mobile phone or a smart phone. The user of device 408may wish to receive interactive information about the user of phone 402before, simultaneously with, or upon receiving the call from the user ofphone 402.

In operation, as the user of phone 402 places the call to device 408,phone 402 may send the called number information to server 404 overnetwork 406. Server 404 may determine that device 408 is a wirelessdevice, capable of receiving textual, graphical, or rich mediainformation. Server 404 may compose the interactive information aboutthe user of phone 402. Server 404 may communicate with wireless gateway410 over network 406 and deliver the interactive information to wirelessgateway 410 for delivery to device 408 in the form of text message,graphical interactive information, or rich media interactiveinformation. Wireless gateway 410 may deliver the interactiveinformation in any of these forms to device 408 using wirelesscommunication infrastructure 412.

Wireless gateway 410 is shown only as exemplary. Any other service thatis capable of delivering textual and/or graphical information towireless communication devices may be used in place of wireless gateway410. For example, server 404 may send an email containing theinteractive information to an email address corresponding to device 408,instead of sending the interactive information to wireless gateway 410.Any method of delivery may be used for delivering the interactiveinformation from the server to the wireless communication device withoutdeparting from the scope of the illustrative embodiments.

Thus, device 408 may receive a voice call from phone 402, andsubstantially simultaneously also receive interactive information aboutthe user of phone 402 in text, graphical, or rich media form. The userof device 408 may then be able to interact with the interactiveinformation, such as take a user-action, in the manner described above.

With reference to FIG. 5, this figure depicts an exemplary display ofinteractive information on a wireless communication device in accordancewith an illustrative embodiment. Display 500 may be a display screen ona wireless communication device, such as device 408 in FIG. 4. Once thewireless communication device including display 500 receives theinteractive information that information may be displayed on display500. The interactive information may or may not be combined with thecaller ID that the wireless communication device may receive inconjunction with the voice call. In one embodiment, caller IDinformation may be replaced by the interactive information received fromthe server. In another embodiment, the caller ID information may bemodified and displayed in addition to the interactive information. Inanother embodiment, the caller ID information may be displayed as it wasoriginally received, in conjunction with the interactive information.

In FIG. 5, display 500 displays interactive information 501. Display 500is further shown to include caller ID information 502, which includes acalling number and a name associated with that calling number. Display500 may include some visual cues that the information being displayedhas been grouped in some logical manner, as described with respect toFIGS. 2, 2A, 2B, 3, and 3A above. For example, graphical dividers,dividing lines, blank space, color, type or size of fonts, and othersimilar techniques may be used for grouping information displayed ondisplay 500.

Messages relating to the caller may also be included in the interactiveinformation. For example, message 506 informs the called party that thecaller's birthday is today. Message 506 may alternatively inform theuser that the caller's birthday just passed or is coming up. Contents ofsuch messages, selection of such messages for display, and location onthe display screen where such messages may be displayed may beconfigurable on the server as described with respect to server 110 inFIG. 1 above.

Assuming that the caller is calling the called party for a businessmatter, additional information, such as caller's business profile 508,may be included in interactive information 501 displayed on display 500.In the illustrated example, the caller's business profile 508 informsthe called party that the caller works for XYZ Corporation as a salesrepresentative, and previously worked for ABC Inc. Such information canbe helpful to the called party in gaining some idea about the purpose ofthe call and preparing for the call.

Additional information such as business information 510 may also behelpful to the called party in learning what the call may concern. Inthe illustrated example, business information 510 informs the calledparty that the caller's company—XYZ Corp. is engaged in technologyservices business, trades on NASDAQ stock exchange, the present valueand trend of the company's stock, and recent news items relating to thecompany or its business. In one embodiment, advertising or marketinginformation associated with the company may be presented in a similarmanner.

The information depicted in FIG. 5 is only exemplary and not intended tobe limiting on the illustrative embodiment. Other information may beadded to or substituted for the exemplary information in FIG. 5.Furthermore, interactive information 501 displayed on display 500 mayexceed the display space and the display may be scrolled to display allthe interactive information available about the caller.

With reference to FIG. 6, this figure depicts an alternativetelecommunication environment in accordance with an illustrativeembodiment. Telecommunication environment 600 includes phone 602, whichis a communication device with display capabilities, and may be similarto phone 102 in FIG. 1. Server 604 may be similar to server 110 inFIG. 1. Network 606 may be similar to network 106 in FIG. 1. Phonesystem 608 may be similar to phone system 104 in FIG. 1. Backend system610 may be similar to backend system 108 in FIG. 1.

Phone 602 may be further in communication with local area network (LAN)612. LAN 612 may facilitate data communication between two or more dataprocessing systems, data enabled communication devices, and other dataenabled devices. Server 614 may be a data processing system incommunication with LAN 612. Server 614 may be a calendaring server,messaging server, or a server hosting any other application thatexchanges data with other data processing systems and devices on LAN612.

Phone 616 is an exemplary communication device also in communicationwith LAN 612. Computer 618 is another exemplary data processing systemin communication with LAN 612. Any number of data processing systems anddevices may communicate using LAN 612. Server 614 and any applicationshosted therein may exchange data with phone 602, phone 616, and computer618.

Application 620 may be hosted on server 614. For clarity of thedescription of the illustrative embodiments, application 620 is assumedto be a calendaring application that is hosted and running on server614. Further, phone 602 is assumed to be a caller phone, and phonesystem 608 is assumed to be a called communication device.

In operation, a user of phone 602 may place a call to an entitycorresponding to phone system 608. Upon placing the call, server 604,backend system 610, or both, may deliver interactive information tophone 602. Furthermore, server 614 may provide more information that maybe combined with the interactive information so received, and thecombined information may be displayed on phone 602. Information combinedfrom various sources in this manner is called combined interactiveinformation. Assume that the combined interactive information displayedon phone 602 includes interactive information about certain events thatoccur on certain dates and times. The user of phone 602 may be able toshare such interactive information with other users on LAN 612, forexample, the user of phone 616 or computer 618. The user of phone602.may be able to upload such interactive information to a calendar onserver 620 such that the event of the interactive information is placedon the user's schedule and the schedule of anyone else that the userdesignates.

Operating in this manner, using events and calendar as examples, theinteractive information becomes sharable, modifiable, and capable ofbeing manipulated across data networks. Furthermore, LAN 612 is onlyused as exemplary and the data network may be local area work, wide areanetwork, virtual private network or any other type of data network. Thecalendaring application is chosen for the clarity of the description oftelecommunication environment 600. Any other application that canbenefit from, facilitate, or coordinate data exchange in a similarmanner may be used without departing from the scope of the illustrativeembodiments.

With reference to FIG. 7, this figure depicts a display of interactiveinformation in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. Display 700may be similar to display 500 in FIG. 5, display 300 in FIGS. 3 and 3A,or display 200 in FIGS. 2, 2A, and 2B. Display 700 may be of any size,orientation, or configuration, as may be displays 200, 300 and 500referenced above. Display 700 may be a part of a communication device,such as phone 102 in FIG. 1 that includes keypad 702 and buttons 704 forperforming other functions. Contents of display 700 are described aspertaining to a caller, to wit, display 700 displays caller'sinteractive information to a called party. Interactive information of acalled party can be similarly displayed on display 700.

In FIG. 7, display 700 is shown to be of landscape format, capable ofaccommodating multiple columns of interactive information. Furthermore,interactive information displayed on display 700 may be combinedinteractive information, combining interactive information coming fromseveral sources as described above with respect to FIG. 6. Display 700displays caller ID information 706, which may be the unaltered caller IDas delivered by the telecommunication service provider, or modifiedbased on interactive information related to the caller. Caller ID 706 isshown to include additional information, such as a link to the websiteof the caller's organization, in addition to the caller ID that may bedelivered by a telecommunication service provider. Caller ID 706 is,therefore, also a piece of interactive information.

Display 700 further displays interactive information 708, interactiveinformation 710, and interactive information 712. Interactiveinformation 708 may include information about the caller or caller'sorganization. For example, interactive information 708 includes dividinglines for visual separation of displayed pieces of information.Interactive information 708 further includes identification of aparticular department within the caller organization that is making thecall. Interactive information 708 further includes information aboutscheduled events planned by that department.

Interactive information 710 may be interactive information pertaining tothe called party, to whom display 700 is displaying the information.Interactive information 710 may come from an application server, such asserver 614 in FIG. 6. For example, interactive information 710 is shownto include information about the called party's schedule on the days ofthe events planned by the calling department.

Interactive information 712 may include information about actions theuser may take with respect to interactive information 708 and 710.Interactive information 712 may be generated by an application inaccordance with an illustrative embodiment, that may be running on thecommunication device displaying the information. Such an application isdescribed further with reference to FIG. 8 below.

In FIG. 7, interactive information 712 is shown to include visualcommands, formed by the application in the communication device, andactionable by the user with respect to the interactive informationdisplayed in interactive information 708 and interactive information710. For example, interactive information 708 may include event 713together with the date, time and place of the event, in an interactiveform that is usable by the application in the communication device. Theapplication in the communication device may generate interactiveinformation 712 such that interactive information 712 includes visualreference 714 to event 713, together with user-action 716 that the usermay perform with respect to event 713, and method 718 of performinguser-action 716. In this example, interactive information 712 is shownto display a block arrow as visual reference 714, pointing to event 713,and suggesting “schedule this on your calendar” as user-action 716 thatis possible with event 713. Interactive information 712 further the userinforms that the user may press the “#” key on keypad 702, followed bythe “2” key on keypad 702 to perform that user-action.

Interactive information 712 is further shown to include alternativeuser-action 720 that may be possible with event 713. Interactiveinformation 712 also includes several alternative methods 722 and 724 ofperforming alternative user-action 720. In this example, interactiveinformation 712 suggests “give to someone” as alternative user-action720 with respect to event 713. This alternative user-action may resultin placing the event on someone else's calendar across a data networkThis exemplary alternative user-action may use an application running ona server, such as a calendaring application running as application 620on server 614 across LAN 612 in FIG. 6.

Interactive information 712 exemplarily suggests two methods 722 and 724for performing alternative user-action 720. Method 722 suggests pressingthe “#” key, followed by the “2” key, and followed by the “1” key onkeypad 702 to perform alternative user action 720. Method 724 suggestspressing button 726 for performing the same alternative user-action 720.

In this manner, display 700 may display combined interactiveinformation, and facilitate user-actions that may interact with otherapplications on the communication device that includes display 700 orother devices and data processing systems accessible from thatcommunication device. The specific visual references, key allocationsand combination of interactive information in FIG. 7 are chosen only asexemplary in order to describe the illustrative embodiment. Manyvariations of these artifacts of display 700 will be apparent from thisdisclosure and are contemplated within the scope of the illustrativeembodiment.

With reference to FIG. 8, this figure depicts a block diagram of aninteractive information application in accordance with an illustrativeembodiment. Application 800 may execute in a communication device, suchas phone 102 in FIG. 1, having a display for interactive information,such as display 700 in FIG. 7. In one embodiment, application 800 mayrun on a data processing system separate from the communication devicewhose display is used for displaying the interactive information. Inanother embodiment, application 800 may have some components ofapplication 800 executing on the communication device, and othercomponents executing on another device or data processing system.

Application 800 may include data communication component 802, which mayenable application 800 to communicate with other devices and dataprocessing systems across local or wide area networks. Storage component804 may store data that forms the interactive information as well asdata that may be combined with the interactive information. The datastored in storage component 804 may also include data used in theexecution of application 800, user data, or any other data that may beused for presenting interactive information on a display, such as callerID 706 and interactive information 708-712 including graphical images ondisplay 700 in FIG. 7.

Application 800 may further include analysis component 808 that analyzesthe data and the interactive information that is to be presented on adisplay. For example, with reference to interactive information 712 inFIG. 7, analysis component 806 may identify the presence of scheduledevents in interactive information 708 received from a server. Based onthis identification, analysis component 806 may correlate the events tothe user's schedule received from a calendaring application. Based onthe comparison, analysis component 806 may determine that an event, suchas event 713 in FIG. 7, is schedulable or not, and any user-actions in aset of user-actions that the user may be able to take with respect tothe event. A set of user-actions is one or more user-actions.

User's schedule is an example of user data that may be combined with theinteractive information. User data is data pertaining to the user towhom the interactive information is to be displayed. Other examples ofuser data include the user's email mailbox, task lists, contact lists,and word processing documents. Other examples of combining user datawith interactive information may include inserting a caller'sinformation in a contacts list, adding the link to the caller'scompany's website into the user's browser's bookmarks, and adding ascheduled event at a called party's organization to the user's to-dolist.

User interface component 808 may configure the interactive information,combined interactive information, user data, and the results of theanalysis from analysis component 806 in a form suitable for displayingon a given display. For example, user interface component 808 may reduceor enlarge a graphical icon used for visual reference 714 in FIG. 7depending on the amount of information to be displayed. As anotherexample, user interface component 808 may position that graphical iconso that the icon visually aligns with event 713 in FIG. 7. Other similaroperations may be performed using user interface component 808 formanaging the display of interactive information on the display.

Action component 810 may receive any user-actions executed by the user,such a pressing specific keys. Using the received user-actions, actioncomponent 810 may compose appropriate commands to performing the taskindicated by the user action. For example, if the user presses the “#”key followed by the “2” key, action component 810 may compose a commandfor a calendaring application to place event 713 in FIG. 7 on the user'sschedule. Data communication component 802 may then send that command tothe calendaring application which may be application 620 executing onserver 614 in FIG. 6.

The components of application 800 and the operations performed by thosecomponents are described above only as exemplary. The describedcomponents may be modified, merged or omitted, other components may beincluded, and other operations may be performed in application 800without departing from the scope of the illustrative embodiments.

With reference to FIG. 9, this figure depicts a flowchart of a processof presenting interactive information in accordance with an illustrativeembodiment. Process 900 may be implemented in application 800 in FIG. 8.

Process 900 can begin in one of at least two ways. The process may beginby receiving a caller ID when the display is on a called party's phone(step 902). The process may also begin by receiving the called number,if the display is on a calling party's phone (step 904). Either from thecaller ID received in step 902, or the dialed number from step 904, theprocess identifies a party whose interactive information is desired(step 906).

The process creates a request for interactive information of that party(step 908). Responsive to the request, the process receives theinteractive information (step 910). As an option, the process may storethe received interactive information (step 912). The process analyzesthe received interactive information (step 914). The process thendetermines if additional information, such as the user's schedule fromthe user's calendar, is needed (step 916). If additional information isneeded, (“Yes” path of step 916), the process requests and receives thatinformation from the appropriate source (step 918). The process maycombine the additional information received in this manner with thepreviously received interactive information (step 920). The process mayre-analyze the combined interactive information and re-execute steps 914and 916 until further additional information is not needed.

If additional information is not needed, or sufficient additionalinformation has been received (“No” path of step 916), the processconfigures the combined interactive information for display (step 922).The process the displays the combined interactive information (step924).

The process may receive a user-action based on the interactiveinformation that is displayed (step 926). The process may perform anaction based on the user-action received in step 924, or create acommand for another system to perform the action (step 926). If theprocess creates a command for another system, the process sends thecommand to the designated system (step 930). In one embodiment, if theprocess performs the action based on the user action in step 928, theprocess may omit step 930 as there may not be a command to send toanother system.

The process then determines if more user-actions are expected (step932). If more user actions are expected, the process returns to step 926and performs steps 926-932 as described above. When the process does notexpect any more user-actions (“No” path of step 932), the process ends.In one embodiment, the process may not expect any user-actions at alland end after displaying the combined interactive information in step924.

The various steps of process 900 have been chosen and described only asexemplary and are not limiting on the illustrative embodiments. Animplementation of the illustrative embodiments may alter, combine,delete or augment these steps without departing from the scope of theillustrative embodiments.

Although the principles of the present invention have been describedusing a caller ID communications protocol, alternative communicationsprotocols may be utilized to provide interactive text ID services. Forexample, short messaging services or alternative text messaging servicesmay be utilized.

Thus, the illustrative embodiments describe a method, apparatus andcomputer usable program product for presenting interactive informationabout a telecommunication user. Using the illustrative embodiments, aparty receiving a call from a caller can get interactive informationabout the caller and be better prepared for the call as compared to whensuch interactive information is not available. Using the illustrativeembodiments, a party placing a call to a called party can also getinteractive information about the called party and reach the context ofthe call more expeditiously as compared to without such interactiveinformation.

The illustrative embodiments can take the form of an entirely hardwareembodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment containingboth hardware and software elements. Furthermore, the illustrativeembodiments can take the form of a computer program product accessiblefrom a computer-usable or computer-readable medium providing programcode for use by or in connection with a computer or any instructionexecution system. For the purposes of this description, acomputer-usable or computer-readable medium can be any tangibleapparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transportthe program for use by or in connection with the instruction executionsystem, apparatus, or device.

The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or apropagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium include asemiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computerdiskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), arigid magnetic disk and an optical disk. Current examples of opticaldisks include compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), compactdisk-read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD.

Further, a computer storage medium may contain or store acomputer-readable program code such that when the computer-readableprogram code is executed on a computer, the execution of thiscomputer-readable program code causes the computer to transmit anothercomputer-readable program code over a communication link Thiscommunication link may use a medium that is, for example withoutlimitation, physical or wireless.

The above description has been presented for purposes of illustrationand description, and is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to theillustrative embodiments in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for providing interactive information on a communication device, the method comprising: identifying a calling party in a telecommunication call; receiving interactive information about the calling party; combining user data with the interactive information to form combined interactive information; displaying the combined interactive information about the calling party to a user; receiving a user-action relating to the displayed combined interactive information; and performing an operation corresponding to the user-action.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the operation includes: composing a command based on the user-action; and sending the command over a network for execution.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the interactive information is responsive to sending a request the interactive information, and wherein the request includes an identity of the calling party.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the request further includes an identity of the user.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving the user data from one or more of a storage in the communication device and a data processing system accessible to the communication device, wherein when the user data is received from a data processing system the additional information and the interactive information are received from data processing systems that are distinct from one another.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: determining if the user data is needed by analyzing the interactive information.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the interactive information includes events, wherein the user data includes the user's schedule, wherein the combining correlates the events with the schedule and creates a set of user-actions based on the correlation.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the combined interactive information includes suggesting a set of user-actions to the user, and each user-action in the set of user-actions corresponds to at least one interactive action included in the combined interactive information.
 9. A system for providing interactive information on a communication device, the system comprising: a data communication component configured to receive identifying information about a calling party in a telecommunication call and to receive interactive information about the calling party; an analysis component configured to combine user data with the interactive information to form combined interactive information; a user interface component configured to display the combined interactive information to a user; and an action component configured to receive a user-action relating to the displayed combined interactive information and to perform an operation corresponding to the user-action.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the action component is further configured to compose a command based on the user-action and the data communication component is further configured to send the command over a network for execution.
 11. The system of claim 9, wherein the data communication component is further configured to send a request for the interactive information, to include an identity of the calling party in the request, and to include an identity of the user in the request.
 12. The system of claim 9, further comprising: a storage configured to store user data, the analysis component is configured to receive the user data from one or more of the storage and a data processing system accessible to the communication device, wherein when the user data is received from a data processing system the additional information and the interactive information are received from data processing systems that are distinct from one another, and the analysis component is further configured to analyze the interactive information and to determine if the user data is needed.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the analysis component is further configured to analyze the events included in the interactive information, user's schedule included in the user data, and wherein the analysis component is further configured to correlate the events with the schedule and to create a set of user-actions based on the correlation.
 14. The system of claim 9, wherein the user interface component is further configured to display the combined interactive information, to suggest a set of user-actions to the user, and to correspond each user-action in the set of user-actions to at least one interactive action included in the combined interactive information.
 15. A computer usable program product in a computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions for providing interactive information on a communication device that, when executed, cause a data processing system to: identify a calling party in a telecommunication call; receive interactive information about the calling party; combine user data with the interactive information to form combined interactive information; display the combined interactive information to a user; receive a user-action relating to the displayed combined interactive information; and perform an operation corresponding to the user-action.
 16. The computer usable program product of claim 15, wherein the instructions that cause the data processing system to perform the operation further cause the data processing system to: compose a command based on the user-action; and send the command over a network for execution.
 17. The computer usable program product of claim 15, further include instructions that cause the data processing system to: send a request for the interactive information, wherein the instructions cause the data processing system to receive the interactive information responsive to sending the request, and wherein the request includes an identity of the calling party and an identity of the user.
 18. The computer usable program product of claim 15, further comprising instructions that cause the data processing system to: receive the user data from one or more of a storage in the communication device and a data processing system accessible to the communication device, wherein when the user data is received from a data processing system the additional information and the interactive information are received from data processing systems that are distinct from one another; and determine if the user data is needed by analyzing the interactive information.
 19. The computer usable program product of claim 18, wherein the interactive information includes events, wherein the user data includes the user's schedule, wherein the instructions that cause the data processing system to combine cause the data processing system to correlate the events with the schedule and create a set of user-actions based on the correlation.
 20. The computer usable program product of claim 15, wherein the instructions that cause the data processing system to display the combined interactive information further cause the data processing system to suggest a set of user-actions to the user, wherein each user-action in the set of user-actions corresponds to at least one interactive action included in the combined interactive information. 